I raise the issue that has come to light from an internal cable that was published by Reuters, which is the statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the processing of all F, M and J visa applications should be halted. The US authorities say they want to introduce increased vetting of the social media profiles of, particularly, students applying for J1 visas. That has an immediate and pressing implication for our own students. Hundreds of thousands of Irish students have done a J1 visa. I did my own in 1985,…

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. I thank my colleagues for sharing time with me. I hear in the Minister's remarks the alarm bells we have heard so many times before about impending economic shocks. He referred to them as shocks that may become more frequent. I entered the workforce in 1987, almost 40 years ago, so I have lived through recession, boom, recession, catastrophic economic collapse and then boom and here we are, perhaps on the threshold of another period of economic instability. In the 1980s…

I see the Minister disagrees with me, but in our lived experience with a disabled child, we saw the entire collapse of all of his services, supports and therapies. That is a situation from which disabled citizens in this country have not recovered. That is why we have children unable to obtain proper diagnoses or surgical treatments on the spinal or urological waiting lists. It is why we have tens of thousands of children and family members who cannot get a school place. The situation for disabled citizens in this …

I echo the call by Senator Fitzpatrick for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. I am particularly concerned that in the past few days Netanyahu's Government has called for a major call-up and mobilisation of Israel Defense Forces reservists. We are on the precipice of another major expansion of Israel's military operation in Gaza. Before I speak about the situation, I want to be clear that I condemn Hamas absolutely for their war crimes, their actions on 7 October that were genocidal in nature and intent, their war crim…

Hear, hear.

I echo the sympathies for Garda Flatley and his family. My father was a garda. I remember as a child that you expected your mum or dad to come home from work every day. I was particularly struck to hear in the reporting of the tragic incident that the number of gardaí who are injured in roads policing is up to 70 every year. I hope that the Commissioner and the representative associations can get together and try to meditate the risk that is obviously there on the roads for members of An Garda Síochána. Ar dheis Dé…

I thank Senator McCarthy for sharing time. I commend my colleagues on this motion and thank them for it. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus déanaim comhghairdeas leis on his appointment to this portfolio. It was mentioned that the Department of further and higher education can be transformational. That is the case. I have two asks for the Minister in the brief time I have. During the tenure of the Minister's predecessor, the Tánaiste, Deputy Harris, an anomaly came to light when my son, who is a wheelchair user and p…

I thank the Minister for coming in. I commend this Bill and those who have proposed and seconded it. I echo comments concerning former Senator and current Deputy Malcolm Byrne who brought forward this legislation during the previous Administration. Retail workers are literally on the front line in our cities and towns. They are on the front line interacting with members of their communities every day. For so many people, they can be the only point of social contact they have during the day. It is my experience of p…

I thank the Minister of State for coming in. I want to raise here again the case of Caitlin Hassan. Caitlin's mum, Louise Hassan, is here in the Visitors Gallery. Caitlin Hassan was sexually assaulted while in the care of Avista healthcare. Since the assault she has had no supports and is currently at home with Louise. Caitlin is deeply traumatised and cannot dress or get out of the bed. She is a young woman who has been completely failed by the State in exactly the same way as in the Grace case.

I have the full consent of Louise and Caitlin Hassan, and this is a matter that has been covered on the public record in all the national newspapers and on RTÉ, the national broadcaster. All the parties have been named and all the detail has been published, and this is the reason we are here. Here is a family that has been completely failed by the State. To get the help and support they need, many victims of sexual assault have to renounce their anonymity. On the publication of the report on the Grace case, the Min…

With no disrespect to the Minister of State, that response is wholly inadequate. Saying, "We do not comment on individual cases" or, "This is a matter for the relevant authorities" is a rhetorical device that is used by the HSE, the Department of Health and previous Ministers. These are the systemic failures identified quite clearly in the Grace case. When people like Louise and Caitlin renounce their anonymity and come forward, as many rape victims do, such as in the recent case of Nikita Hand, for example, we com…

I raise the issue of Ireland's triple lock. Over the weekend, the Taoiseach said that he has no difficulty whatsoever bringing to the democratic Parliament of this Republic the proposal to remove the aggressor's veto. By that, the Taoiseach is referring to the veto of UN Security Council mandates and resolutions. I understand where he is coming from intellectually on that, but I ask that we all stop and think about what is being proposed. The United Nations was set up as a means of protecting ourselves from complet…

I thank the Minister of State for coming along to take this Commencement matter. I want to raise the case of Jehad Sabah. He is a 57-year-old man. He has managed to get away from Gaza and all of the destruction there. He is currently being held at El Arish hospital in North Sinai in Egypt. Jehad's daughter, Walaa Sabah is here. Ahlan wa sahlan, I welcome her to this House. Jehad is suffering from a serious cardiac condition. He is only 57. He has been told that El Arish hospital does not have the specialists to tre…

I thank the Minister of State. Jehad and Rina al Sabah are actually out of Gaza. That is the most critical aspect of this. They are now in northern Egypt and therefore some of the barriers and the obstacles to their liberation from what is effectively a ghetto, a concentration camp created by the Israeli military, have been removed. I am heartened to hear of the precedent of Palestinian children and family members being brought to Ireland under that medical category of visa. I think it is called a stamp 3 visa, tho…

I echo the sympathies offered to Micko's family. As for the assertion that Kerry has had the best football team in history, I will just say “five in a row”. As someone who used to go to my grandmother in Killorglin, Kerry, in the 1970s, I remember the great rivalry between Dublin and Kerry, and Heffo's Army. However, the question of which football team was the greatest ever is still out for the jury. I want to raise a couple of issues, the first being the situation that confronts Ms Evelyne Cynk. She is a disabled …

Hear, hear.

The Minister of State is welcome to the House and I congratulate her on her appointment to this important portfolio. According to the World Health Organization, everybody in this room, everybody outside and everybody in the world will have a disability for an average of between eight and ten years of their lifespan. For most of us, it comes at the end of life. Unfortunately for disabled citizens in Ireland, particularly children, teenagers and young adults, their rights are routinely and cruelly not vindicated. Thi…

This week I want to raise the case of a 14-year-old boy in Tralee, County Kerry. His name is Daniel Collins.

Let me be clear: I would never use the name of a family or a child without their express permission.

Actually, it is an interesting point because this is the situation for disabled citizens in Ireland, where to get any kind of support or assistance, they have to go public with their situation.